Match: Manchester City v Burnley
Date: Saturday, October 21
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Time: 10:00PM Saturday (SGT)/ 7:30PM Saturday (IST)/3:00PM Saturday (BST)
TV Info: Singtel TV (Singapore)/ Star Sports Select (India)/ NBC Sports (U.S.)
Live Stream: Starhub Go app (Singapore)/ Hotstar app (India)/ NBC Sports App (U.S.)
Overview
Manchester City will look to continue their fine winning run against Burnley on Saturday, with Blues boss Pep Guardiola perhaps looking to refresh his line-up.
Guardiola's side have been unstoppable so far this season, their only slip up a 1-1 draw at home to Everton back in August.
The Catalan has picked the same starting XI for the last three matches but has strong options on the bench and may make some changes.
The unbeaten Blues welcome the Lancashire outfit, who are yet to lose on their travels this season, to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 21 October as Guardiola's men look to notch a seventh successive victory in the Premier League.
Burnley, however, have a fine record away from home this season.
But while the Clarets have a formidable record away from home - they have played Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton and taken eight points - Guardiola knows he has quality options, particularly in midfield and attack, and he has often talked about keeping his players fresh.
Team News
Vincent Kompany is unlikely to return from his calf problem, having not trained since the middle of September.
Benjamin Mendy is out until late April at the earliest with a knee injury.
Sergio Aguero has been an unused sub in two of those following his involvement in a car crash three weeks ago, but he may well be ready to feature this weekend if Guardiola opts to give one of his other attacking talents a deserved breather.
Neither teams have any suspensions to worry about.
Ilkay Gundogan's return from a knee injury should see him start at least one of the next two matches. He could take up any of the three midfield roles but it seems unlikely that Guardiola would rest either Kevin De Bruyne or David Silva for this league game, given their importance to City's overall play.
Bernardo Silva has struggled to get into the side, with Guardiola preferring De Bruyne and David Silva in midfield and the direct running and increased goal threat of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling in attack. Neither of City's speedy wingers played particularly well while in possession outside the box against Napoli, however, and with Burnley sure to sit deep at the Etihad Stadium there may be room for Bernardo Silva's combination of quick feet and quick thinking.
For Burnley, Goalkeeper Tom Heaton is out with a shoulder injury, while John Walters is missing with a knee problem.
Nahki Wells and Dean Marney are recovering from long-term injuries and are unlikely to feature.
Predicted Line ups
City Potential starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph, Gundogan, De Bruyne, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sane, Aguero, Bernardo Silva
Burnley Potential starting XI: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward; Brady, Defour, Cork, Arfield, Hendrick, Wood
Head to Head
These two sides have met six times in the Premier League, with Man City managing to win just half of those matches.
The teams have played out a couple of draws during that time and Burnley picked up a 1-0 win in March 2015, but the Citizens did come out on top in both encounters last season.
City have scored at least two goals in seven of their last eight meetings against Burnley, in fact, seeing over 2.5 goals scored overall in that run. This is the first time that a team managed by Pep Guardiola has scored 29 goals from their opening eight games of the season. Only in 2015-16 (24 pts with Bayern Munich) has Guardiola won more points from the opening eight games of the season than in this campaign with Man City (22).
Despite losing only one of their six Premier League meetings with Burnley (W3 D2 L1), the Citizens have failed to keep a clean sheet against the Clarets.
Indeed, no side has faced Burnley more in the competition without keeping a clean sheet against them (Hull City also six).
However, the Citizens have averaged 3.2 goals-per- game across their last 10 league meetings with Burnley, including hitting them for six on two occasions (6-0 March 1999, 6-1 April 2010).
This is Burnley's best ever start to a Premier League campaign after eight games (13 points).
The Clarets did not win a Premier League away game until the end of April last season, and had only managed four draws before that, but have already beaten Chelsea and Everton this season and taken a point from trips to Liverpool and Tottenham.
